Cigarettes have increased to £16.00 per pack of twenty

My Dad and Mom both smoked heavily. I grew up with it. My Dad started when he was 12. When he was in his 60's he was diagnosed with emphysema. He tried to quit for about a month but finally said the hell with it and started smoking again. He also took snuff. He'd put it under his lip and never spit. He said it gave him pep. Neither of my folks actually died of smoking, but it probably contributed. Dad had Hodgkin's disease and Mom congestive heart failure. She had Scarlet fever when she was young that caused some heart damage.

I bought one pack of cigarettes in my life, Pall Malls. I actually liked the taste but couldn't handle the smoke. In the Navy, almost everyone smoked. Sea store cigarettes cost, I think, about 10 or 15 cents a pack. In my mid 20's I took up pipe smoking and an occasional cigar, never more than one or two times a day and I didn't inhale. But, by the time I reached 40 I could feel it in my lungs and gave it up. I still miss it though, especially on cool evenings.

Now I'm 84. It's probably too late for me to get lung cancer or emphysema from smoking. I still have my pipes and some tobacco. The temptation is there.
 

debodun said:
I am happy I don't use tobacco or alcohol products.
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Our wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, got through ten or more Havana cigars a day, he consumed brandy and whisky at a rate of £500's worth (in today's money,) a week and he had just about the most stressful job you could have, that of wartime prime minister. Churchill defied all medical advice and went on to live until he was 90. No wonder The Nazis had no chance.
 
Cigarettes are cheaper at the Indian reservations where many people go to buy them because they are $2.50 per pack and charge no sales tax on them. Only problem with that is if you get stopped by the cops for a traffic violation, they will cease those cigarettes and write a citation for transporting them across State line as unstamped cigarettes.

Most cigarettes in the State cost between $8.00 - $12.00 per pack. I guess that's why people who are addicted to nicotine, take the chance of buying/transporting cigarettes across State line.
 
horseless carriage said:
Our wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, got through ten or more Havana cigars a day, he consumed brandy and whisky at a rate of £500's worth (in today's money,) a week and he had just about the most stressful job you could have, that of wartime prime minister. Churchill defied all medical advice and went on to live until he was 90. No wonder The Nazis had no chance.
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He was just lucky, a few people can get away with such terrible habits. I do know of people who have appalling lifestyles and seem invincible. It's genes I think. Mostly though the damage catches up eventually, with tragic results.
 
My father started smoking unfiltered cigarettes when he was 9 years old. Of course in those days the tobacco didn't have 500 poisons in it... but he smoked a pack a day all his life... had no C.O P D..or any lung related issues, and was otherwise fit all his life... and ultimately died from the effects of Parkinson's disease at 82...
 
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hollydolly said:
In the chancellors budget speech today he has not increased fuel duty.thank goodness.. nor has he increased alcohol duty... which are 2 of the most affected items every year and almost always increased, but the 3rd is Tobacco duty.. and again he has increased the duty tax on Cigarettes and vaping.. I m absolutely stunned that the price of just one pack of twenty cigarettes will now cost £16 per packet... just one pack...wow!:eek:

That is $20.36 cents US... per twenty cigarettes good grief...:eek:

My parents smoked a pack a day each... my husband smoked a pack and half.. now he vapes.....he is in a high earning job, but even he would say he coudn't afford to smoke cigarettes... who on earth are the people who can afford to smoke cigarettes in the UK ?.. and yet..altho' the vast majority in my area who once smoked either have given up or Vape..I still see people smoking tobacco and cigarettes . and they are clearly not people I would associate with being wealthy financially /// to put it plainly
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I suppose this is a method to get people who smoke to stop smoking, and prevent those thinking about trying it from doing so. Seems to be a very effective tool to use for those goals.
 
Della said:
What always makes me laugh is movie warnings; Rated R for graphic sex, extreme violence and smoking. Come on! It's just a bad health habit, it isn't a moral failing and it isn't going to turn someone into a serial killer to see a character smoke a cigarette.
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Ecactly!
 
Wes said:
I suppose this is a method to get people who smoke to stop smoking, and prevent those thinking about trying it from doing so. Seems to be a very effective tool to use for those goals.
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that's the MO.... but of course the Government are used to raking in billions in Tobacco tax. annually ( 14 billion at the last report) .. so they have to get it elsewhere... and where are they getting it ?.. on our Extortionately high fuel prices...

https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Smoking-and-the-Public-Purse.pdf
 
CallMeKate said:
Whoa! I have no idea what the cost is here these days. Brings up a question...
are your cigarettes there at places where shoplifters can't get to them?
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No. Place where I go that have cigarettes are usually behind the counter. So you have to ask the cashier. With the rising costs, I think store owners thought of shop lifting years ago. By the way, being a lifelong non-smoker, I don't have to ask or shop lift.😁
 
Grampa Don said:
With prices like these, I suspect there will be or already are bootleggers.
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A few years back, you often used to see tobacco being sold openly by individuals on street corners. Very little of the product they sold was actually tobacco, most of the content was talcum powder mixed with the contents of someone's ash tray/hoover. The police started arresting them and, at least where I live, it seems to have mostly stopped.
 
Trish said:
A few years back, you often used to see tobacco being sold openly by individuals on street corners. Very little of the product they sold was actually tobacco, most of the content was talcum powder mixed with the contents of someone's ash tray/hoover. The police started arresting them and, at least where I live, it seems to have mostly stopped.
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Wow...I never saw that.. well they'd kind of stand out a little bit if they stood on the corner of a field here....:ROFLMAO:
 
they are behind locked cupboards here in Aus too - not so much for shoplifting but to prevent underage smokers having access.

You can be asked for ID to show you are over 18.

But there is a lot of tax on them here too and very expensive habit.

Apart from health risks saving money would be good incentive to quit.
 
January said:
they are behind locked cupboards here in Aus too - not so much for shoplifting but to prevent underage smokers having access.

You can be asked for ID to show you are over 18.

But there is a lot of tax on them here too and very expensive habit.

Apart from health risks saving money would be good incentive to quit.
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here in the UK the minimum wage is £11.44 PH which makes one packet cost a third more than the hourly working rate...
 
What about loose tobacco? My Dad used to buy Bull Durham in a sack and roll his own. He had a little machine that you put the paper and tobacco in and when you closed it a cigarette popped out.

Have the raised the tax on pipe tobacco too?
 
No wonder people are switching to vapes or kicking the habit altogether. At those prices, smoking a pack a day would be more expensive than some people's rent or mortgage payments.
It's hard to imagine who can afford to keep up a cigarette habit in the UK these days, especially with the cost of living bein' what it is. It's likely that some folks might be sacrificing other necessities in order to fund their addiction, which is really sad to think about.
But on the bright side, maybe the sky-high prices will serve as a deterrent for those considerin' startin' to smoke, or encourage current smokers to seriously consider quittin'. Of course, nicotine addiction is a powerful force, so it's not as simple as just deciding to quit.
 
Grampa Don said:
What about loose tobacco? My Dad used to buy Bull Durham in a sack and roll his own. He had a little machine that you put the paper and tobacco in and when you closed it a cigarette popped out.

Have the raised the tax on pipe tobacco too?
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£12.35 onto a 30gram packet of Rolling tobacco...

Cigarettes16.5% of the retail price plus £6.33 on a packet of 20
Cigars£3.95 on a 10g cigar
Hand rolling tobacco£12.37 on a 30g packet
Other smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco (for example pipe tobacco)£5.21 on a 30g packet
Tobacco for heating£1.95 on a typical packet of 20 sticks
 
Tobacco for heating? Never heard of that. I looked it up. It's a device that heats the tobacco without burning it. So, you still get a nicotine hit. Son of a gun. What'll they think of next.
 

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